Archaeologists relics of Brits celebrations

Archaeologists have unearthed evidence of the earliestlarge-scale celebrations in Britain, when people and animals travelled hundredsof miles for prehistoric feasting rituals near the world-famous monuments ofStonehenge and Avebury.

The most comprehensive study, led by Cardiff University inthe UK, to date examined the bones of 131 pigs, the prime feasting animals,from four Late Neolithic complexes.

Researchers said, pig bones excavated from four sites werefrom animals raised as far away as Scotland, North East England and West Wales,as well as numerous other locations across the British Isles.

One of the researchers say that study demonstrates a scaleof movement and level of social complexity not previously appreciated. He saysthese gatherings could be seen as the first united cultural events of ourisland, with people from all corners of Britain descending on the areas aroundStonehenge to feast on food that had been specially reared and transported fromtheir homes.

Pigs were the prime animal used in feasting and they providethe best indication of where the people who feasted at these sites came from asalmost no human remains have been recovered.